Aside from Formula 2’s North American debut on the Miami Grand Prix support bill, Eurocup-3, Japanese F4 and AU4 held their first rounds of 2026. Feeder Series reviews the action from the three series.

By Feeder Series

It wouldn’t be a rescheduled F2 round without rescheduling during the weekend itself. The threat of heavy rain in Miami forced a decision Saturday evening to move the feature race three hours earlier than planned, and the incident-filled contest offered a stark contrast to Saturday’s trouble-free affair. You can read our takeaways from the round on our website tomorrow.

Elsewhere, the world tour of junior single-seater racing continued with three season openers. Eurocup-3’s main campaign began at the Circuit Paul Ricard with three different drivers taking victory. In AU4, drivers in both first- and second-generation F4 machinery took to the Winton Motor Raceway, which hosted an F4-level series for the first time since 2018. In a race weekend that stretched until Monday morning, Japanese F4 also had two classes on offer at Fuji – albeit in separate races entirely, split largely by age into the Champion Class and the Independent Class for gentleman drivers.

Lastly, NACAM F4 held an off-schedule third round of its 2026 season at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Championship leader Alex Bobadilla grew his advantage with victories in races two and three while showing his one-lap prowess with pole position. He was not able to capitalise on his strong qualifying in race one, however, finishing fifth as Mateo Girón, who missed the second round, took his maiden series victory.

1. Eurocup-3: Egozi takes early lead with triple podium as Feghali scores maiden win
2. Japanese F4: Toyota juniors Igarashi and Muto win at manufacturer’s home round
3. AU4: Marold takes early advantage as Culver leads Gen1 standings

Eurocup-3: Egozi takes early lead with triple podium as Feghali scores maiden win

James Egozi leaves Le Castellet at the top of the Eurocup-3 standings, 13 points ahead of winter series rival Keanu Al Azhari, after taking a hat-trick of podiums.

Both qualifying sessions were held back to back on Friday afternoon, with Al Azhari finishing fastest in the first session and Gianmarco Pradel taking the honours in the second session. 

The Hitech driver, however, stalled at the start of race one on Saturday, and second-place starter René Lammers immediately took the lead. Behind, Egozi lost second to Alex Powell through Turn 2 but managed to regain the position at the end of the Mistral straight.

At the end of lap two, Gino Trappa and Alceu Feldmann Neto came to blows at the final corner. The incident broke the former’s front-left suspension and brought out the safety car to allow for his Hitech to be recovered. Separately, Bianca Bustamante came to a stop at Turn 5 and also had to be recovered.

Racing resumed at the end of lap six, and Egozi in second began to push for a move on Lammers. After an initial unsuccessful attempt on lap eight heading through Turn 10, the American driver made his way through on lap 11 into the Mistral chicane, which ultimately ended up being the race-winning overtake. Lammers and Powell finished second and third whilst Al Azhari recovered to seventh after his stall.

Red Bull junior Enzo Tarnvanichkul began that afternoon’s sprint race from reverse-grid pole. However, it was Lebanon’s Christopher Feghali who was in the lead by the end of the lap after overtaking the Thai driver around the outside into Turn 10. 

Only one safety car period interrupted proceedings in the sprint, this time for Feldmann Neto, who pulled off on the outside of Turn 7 on lap seven. Once the safety car came in two laps later, Feghali continued unopposed to score his first career single-seater victory ahead of Tarnvanichkul and Egozi. 

At the start of the final race, a slow getaway for second-place starter Ean Eyckmans helped Egozi to pounce on polesitter Pradel into Turn 1 as Al Azhari likewise did on Lammers. Green-flag racing only lasted until Turn 11, however, as Lorenzo Campos’ stopped car at Turn 5 brought out the safety car.

The safety car was originally intended to come in at the end of lap three, but a slowing Pradel at the end of the Mistral straight extended its stint by another lap. On lap five, soon after the restart, Al Azhari’s first attack took him side by side with Egozi around Turn 11. The Alpine junior ran wide and bounced over the outside kerb but kept his foot on the gas, remaining alongside and eventually getting ahead as the pair entered Turn 14.

The following lap, Egozi retook the lead from Al Azhari down the inside of Turn 10, but Al Azhari was never far back. His pursuit of victory set up a close battle between the two on lap 10, during which the Emirati driver took the lead into Turn 5 after the pair ran wheel to wheel for most of the first sector. 

After fending off multiple overtake attempts from Egozi, including on the final lap, Al Azhari went on to take his first victory of the main season ahead of the Palou Motorsport driver. Behind them, Powell initially finished third but later received a five-second penalty for overtaking Lammers off track at Turn 8. The American-Jamaican driver was demoted to fifth, and Eyckmans, now the top rookie in the standings, inherited the final podium position.

Report by Seb Tirado

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Keanu Al Azhari, 1:55.184	René Lammers, +0.004s	James Egozi, +0.107s
Qualifying 2	Gianmarco Pradel, 1:54.902	Ean Eyckmans, +0.292s	Alex Powell, +0.414s
Race 1 (14 laps)	James Egozi, 32:01.526	René Lammers, +1.218s	Alex Powell, +1.346s
Sprint Race (11 laps)	Christopher Feghali, 23:34.331	Enzo Tarnvanichkul, +0.943s	James Egozi, +1.560s
Race 2 (15 laps)	Keanu Al Azhari, 32:08.648	James Egozi, +0.445s	Ean Eyckmans, +3.111s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	James Egozi, 52	MP Motorsport, 70	Ean Eyckmans, 34
P2	Keanu Al Azhari, 39	Palou Motorsport, 65	René Lammers, 30
P3	Ean Eyckmans, 34	Hitech, 46	Alex Powell, 27
P4	René Lammers, 30	Campos Racing, 40	Christopher Feghali, 12
P5	Alex Powell, 27	Drivex, 13	Heitor Dall’Agnol, 9
P6	Gianmarco Pradel, 18	Tecnicar, 6	Rafaël Pérard, 8
P7	Christopher Feghali, 12	GRS Team, 0	Gino Trappa, 8
P8	Enzo Tarnvanichkul, 11	Double R Racing, 0	Santino Panetta, 5
P9	Heitor Dall’Agnol, 9	TC Racing, 0	Thomas Strauven, 3
P10	Rafaël Pérard, 8		Filippo Fiorentino, 1

Japanese F4: Toyota juniors Igarashi and Muto win at manufacturer’s home round

Toyota juniors Buntaro Igarashi and Masana Muto clinched their first wins in Japanese F4 – and the top two places in the drivers’ standings – this weekend following intense battles with their teammates. 

Toyota-backed rookie Ryo Sakai topped qualifying ahead of second-year driver Muto and fellow rookie Igarashi. 

The Toyota trio remained unchanged out front in the Champion Class race one until Turn 6, where Muto launched his car down the inside of Sakai. This allowed Igarashi to take second from Muto on the run to Turn 10, where Muto also lost third to Kageyama Racing’s Ryo Shirasaki before repassing him at Turn 3 the next lap. 

Ponos Racing’s Megumu Suzuki followed Muto through but  misjudged the gap mid-corner at Turn 10, spinning Muto. He dropped to the rear and eventually finished sixth after penalties were applied.

A safety car was called on lap three for a collision between Yuta Suzuki and Quinten Lu in the midfield. The race resumed on lap seven, and Falcon Motorsport’s Leon Ochiai passed Megumu Suzuki for third after a duel that lasted until Turn 6.. Just four corners later, Suzuki’s teammate Ryuma Sako collided spectacularly with OTG Motor Sports’ Kenta Kumagai, and his stranded vehicle brought out the safety car again.

The race resumed at the end of lap 10 with Igarashi passing Sakai for the lead at the first opportunity, but he lost the position at Turn 3. Igarashi then regained the lead around the outside of Turn 10. 

As the pair continued to fight in the final sector, Ochiai in third benefitted and passed both on the main straight. He led from Sakai and Igarashi, fending off Sakai’s attacks on the straight the next lap.

On the final lap, Sakai attacked again at Turn 6, but his challenge compromised both his and Ochiai’s line, which allowed Igarashi through. He went on to win, with Ochiai crossing the line second, Suzuki third and Sakai fifth after dropping in the final sector. 

Post-race penalties for those three, however, meant Kumagai and  Honda junior Syo Momose completed the podium behind Igarashi. 

The grid for race two mirrored race one’s, and Igarashi from third led into the first corner. Suzuki was second after starting fourth but was spun by Sakai exiting Turn 1, allowing Muto to take second. 

A safety car was called at the end of lap one for an incident involving Shirasaki and Ryoki Minoura. The race resumed at the end of lap three, and Muto passed Igarashi for first with a switchback manoeuvre exiting Turn 1. Igarashi then lost second to Sakai after fighting with him for a whole lap, and on lap six he briefly dropped outside the podium places as B-Max Racing’s Haruto Nakai passed him on the inside of Turn 1. 

At the end of that lap, Sakai served his drive-through penalty for spinning Suzuki, restoring Igarashi’s podium. 

No more position changes occurred out front, and Muto clinched his first single-seater victory ahead of first-time podium finisher Nakai and Saturday winner Igarashi. 

In the Independent Class, Kageyama Racing’s Yutaka Toriba took both wins. B-Max Racing’s Nobuhiro Imada and Team 5Zigen’s “Hirobon” completed the podium in the first race, and Bionic Jack Racing’s “Ikari” and Akiland Racing’s Masayoshi Oyama stood on the rostrum after the second race.

Report by Finjo Muschlien

Champion Class
Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Ryo Sakai, 1:45.902	Masana Muto, +0.233s	Buntaro Igarashi, +0.315s
Race 1 (14 laps)	Buntaro Igarashi, 29:25.805	Kenta Kumagai, +1.420s	Syo Momose, +2.003s
Race 2 (14 laps)	Masana Muto, 26:47.452	Haruto Nakai, +6.289	Buntaro Igarashi, +7.661

Independent Class
Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Yutaka Toriba, 1:47.469	“Kentaro”, +0.334s	Nobuhiro Imada, +0.462s
Race 1 (14 laps)	Yutaka Toriba, 25:14.560	Nobuhiro Imada, +8.400s	“Hirobon”, +14.386s
Race 2 (14 laps)	Yutaka Toriba, 29:58.633	“Ikari”, +0.259	Masayoshi Oyama, +1.024

Standings	Champion Class	Champion Class Teams	Independent Class	Independent Class Teams
P1	Buntaro Igarashi, 40	TGR-DC Racing School, 50	Yutaka Toriba, 50	Kageyama Racing, 50
P2	Masana Muto, 33	B-Max Racing Team, 33	Nobuhiro Imada, 24 (tied)	B-Max Engineering, 30
P3	Kenta Kumagai, 30	OTG Motor Sports, 30	“Ikari”, 24 (tied)	Bionic Jack Racing, 24
P4	Yuzuki Miura, 20	Team 5Zigen, 10	Masayoshi Oyama, 23	Akiland Racing, 23
P5	Haruto Nakai, 18	Falcon Motorsport, 10	Go Shimizu, 20	Zap Speed, 20
P6	Syo Momose, 16	Kageyama Racing, 8	“Hirobon”, 15	Rn-sports, 16
P7	Leon Ochiai, 10	Zap Speed, 1	Isao Nakashima, 14	Team 5Zigen, 15
P8	Sena Yamamoto, 10	Dr.Dry Racing Team, 0	“Dragon”, 12	Eagle Sports, 9
P9	Tomoki Terashima, 6	Ragno Motor Sports, 0	Shoichiro Akamatsu, 8	Helm Motorsports, 4
P10	Miki Onaga, 6	Helm Motorsports, 0	Hiroshi Sugiyama, 4	Buzz Racing, 1

AU4: Marold takes early advantage as Culver leads Gen1 standings

AU4’s 2026 season began in mixed conditions at Winton Motor Raceway with a debutant-heavy field already shaping up to be incredibly competitive.

Reigning Gen1 champion Jensen Marold, the Gen2 championship favourite, stormed to pole with blistering laps in both qualifying sessions. His closest challenger on one-lap pace was Borys Łyżeń, who was disqualified from qualifying one but took second place in the second session. Koby Wilson was the fastest Gen1 driver in the first session but was pipped to the second pole by Jackson Culver.

Marold claimed a decisive error-free victory from pole in race one. The same could not be said for Łyżeń, who went off into Turn 3 on the first lap, rejoining among the Gen1 runners.

With nine minutes remaining, Luca Cosolo, running fourth, lost control into Turn 7 and spun. He got out of the grass but pulled over shortly after, prompting a safety car. Marold was still in the lead, followed by Marco Manson, Angus Baills and Łyżeń, who had clawed his way up the order.

Immediately after the restart with three laps remaining, Łyżeń overtook Baills for the final podium position. William Beck and Xavier Babbage-Hockey made contact later that lap at Turn 10, ending the latter’s race and sending him to hospital with a finger injury. Koby Wilson took the victory in the Gen1 class.

Marold started race two from pole but stalled off the line, dropping to 17th and opening the door for Manson to slip through for the lead.  Marold, however, was on slick tyres, and as the track dried, the race came his way.

On lap three, Brock Burton tangled with Łyżeń at Turn 9. The Pole lost places to Lana Flack, whom he had overtaken a few corners before, and Cosolo, who then gained another two spots after Flack and Burton both went deep at the next corner.

Cosolo overtook Manson for the lead by lap six as Marold continued to recover, passing Burton on lap six, Flack on lap seven, Baills on lap eight and Łyżeń and Manson on lap 10. The championship leader was lapping several seconds faster than fellow slick-shod runner Cosolo and finally overtook him on lap 15. Marold made up 16 positions in 16 laps to win by 6.4779s over Cosolo and 38.2037s over Beck. Culver took the Gen1 victory.

In a wet race three, slick-shod Burton beached his car at Turn 3 on the opening lap but rejoined with marshal assistance, while Anton Du tangled with Rugby Mangan, ending the latter’s race and prompting a safety car period.

Following the restart on lap three, polesitter Marold pulled out a four-second lead over Manson. On lap six, third-placed Flack nosedived into the Turn 2 tyre barrier, bringing out the safety car again and ending her race before a red flag was called.

Five minutes were added to the race to make up for the stoppage, which nullified Łyżeń’s and Manson’s deficit to Marold. Łyżeń, running dry tyres, and Marold, running wets, then made contact on the penultimate lap, ending the former’s race and promoting Manson to the lead. Marold rejoined but finished no higher than seventh in class, handing Manson the victory from Beck and Baills as Culver again won in Gen1.

Report by Anabelle Bremner

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Jensen Marold, 1:19.6896	Marco Manson, +0.4853s	Angus Baills, +0.9282s
Qualifying 2	Jensen Marold, 1:19.5274	Borys Łyżeń, +0.4275s	Marco Manson, +0.6780s
Race 1 (16 laps)	Jensen Marold, 26:34.2196	Marco Manson, +1.8129s	Borys Łyżeń, +2.3085s
Race 2 (17 laps)	Jensen Marold, 27:44.7646	Luca Cosolo, +6.4779s	William Beck, +38.2037s
Race 3 (12 laps)	Marco Manson, 30:31.8156	William Beck, +1.3994s	Angus Baills, +2.4569s

Standings	Gen 2 Drivers	Gen 1 Drivers
P1	Jensen Marold, 60	Jackson Culver, 68
P2	Marco Manson, 56	Koby Wilson, 63
P3	William Beck, 35	Lewis Gotch, 48
P4	Angus Baills, 33	Matteo Kazaglis, 30
P5	Luca Cosolo, 26	Martin Dudley, 28
P6	Borys Łyżeń, 25	Rugby Mangan, 24
P7	De’argo Stewart, 17
P8	Lana Flack, 16
P9	Xavier Babbage-Hockey, 14
P10	Brock Burton, 14

Header photo credit: Edern Frouin